Marchand: Rangers inquired about Cano earlier this season

October 3, 2013 by Mike Axisa 74 Comments

Via Andrew Marchand: The Rangers called the Yankees and asked about Robinson Cano‘s availability earlier this season, but New York told them he wasn’t available and talks never got off the ground. We heard some unknown teams inquired about Robbie before the trade deadline.

Cano, 30, hit .314/.383/.516 (142 wRC+) with 27 homers in 160 games this season, his seventh straight year of at least 159 games played. The Yankees have already offered him a seven-year, $161M contract and figure to climb higher to get a deal done at some point this winter. A half-season of Cano is still worth a ton — Texas probably would have avoided a tiebreaker game if they had him instead of Mitch Moreland (with Ian Kinsler moving to first), for example — so the Yankees could have asked for quite a bit. Jurickson Profar for three months of Cano? Martin Perez? No reason to take anything less.

Chip

Profar, Nicholas and Luke Jackson? That would have been quite the haul considering they would then have a chance to resign Cano after the season. Of course, trading Cano takes away the whole Yankees for life/you can be the next Rivera argument that they’ve already started.
- Paco Dooley
  
  I just find this whole Cano situation to be a depressing reminder of the poor running of the NYY. A team like Tampa or St Louis would have traded Cano for some impact talent, but unlike those teams, they could have indeed had a chance to try to re-sign him after the season. It worked for the Phillies with Cliff Lee.
  
  (but I also agree it undermines the Yankee for Life point, except that they can argue he took one for the betterment of his team by spending a few months playing somewhere else).
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    I don’t think Cliff Lee can be used as an example of anything. He is one player who went back to a team he previously played for. It wasn’t even a direct route back.
    
    Perhaps Tampa would have traded him. I’m not sure at all St. Louis would have, as I don’t see Pujols as a precedent for anything. Tamps does things like this out of necessity, and we’re not going to be looking at it as fondly when the breaks stop going their way.
    
    Which they will.
  - qwerty
    
    The Cano situation has been handled badly from the beginning. If they really wanted to keep him then they should agreed to an extension years ago like Cano wanted.
WhittakerWalt

I’m glad we kept him.
- JU
  
  I’m not glad, and this isn’t hindsight talking. I was the president of the Trade Cano Fan Club. They passed on a potential opportunity to make major strides towards rebuilding their org for a lottery ticket that would’ve won them a one game playoff. All this for 60 games of Cano. If you’re evaluating that based on pure utility, it’s a no brainer. You trade him. Then resign him in offseason.
  - BFDeal
    
    And anything you got in return would also qualify as a lottery ticket.
    - Mikhel
      
      It all depends on what you get.
  - Darren
    
    Would you still feel the same if you knew you that once you traded him away, he wouldn’t resign with you in the off season?
    - Mikhel
      
      I’d do it in a heartbeat if the Rangers gave up what Canó was worth for them if the three parties involved sitted and talked about a contract extension for Canó and he agreed to sign with the Rangers. That way the Yanks could ask for more (Profar+Andrus).
Mister D

Now I’m a very sad boy.
- BFDeal
  
  Why? You have no way of knowing what, if anything, Texas offered.
  - Mikhel
    
    “talks never got off the ground”, which means they didn’t offer and were willing to listen to NYY’s demands for Canó.
    - Rick
      
      “Talks never got off the ground” in no way implies they were willing to listen to the Yankees’ demands. Stop being ignorant.
ajs

I think the Y made a HUGE mistake not attempted to trade Cano before the trading deadline. I was telling anyone who would listen at that time, they need to do it. The team is so old, farm system so depleted, and their payroll so high (with old, less productive players), that they should have seen what teams were willing to give. Now, the only way to keep a 31 yr old star is to pay him upward of 2-300,000,000 for 7-10 years!!!! He may be a great player, but what is around him? That is the issue.
- OldYanksFan
  
  Yankees may go $175m, but no higher.
  NOBODY will go $200m.
- NYPLATOONS
  
  Agreed!
Kiko Jones

To trade away the greatest Yankee 2B; a star in his prime, is a major faux pas. Let him walk if you can’t come to an agreement, but trading him? Bad form.
- OldYanksFan
  
  This is true. One never knows, but Robbie is on track to be the greatest Yankee 2nd baseman in Yankee history. That’s no small feat.
- Kyle
  
  Please explain on how is that a bad form ..? Just by letting him walk you get a Comp pick.. By trading him we could’ve had some legit prospects..
  - your mom
    
    But we draft so well……..
- Caballo Sin Nombre
  
  The Yankees need to be the Yankees. Otherwise they are expensive KC Royals. The Yankees do not trade a star in his prime.
Now Batting

Easy in hindsight to say they should have traded him, but the Yankees had a real shot at a playoff spot in early-mid September. The fact that the Yankees never even negotiated makes me think they’re willing to sign him at any cost. That makes me a little nervous.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  You positive Pollyanna not-realist fake-fan Cashman-ball-licking person thing man.
  - Psycho Trish
    
    Wow you looked in the mirror today. Nice!!
Robinson Tilapia

OMGZ They didn’t wave the white flag early in the season and cry DOOOOOOOOOM when they were obviously royally fucked as everyone with a real pair of eyes has known every season since 2008. It’s what Steinbrenner would have done. He is rolling in his grave. Steinbrenner always gave up before actually playing TEH GAMEZ.

Honestly, whatever. I’m glad he’s a Yankee. I hope they work out something mutually beneficial and he continues to be the best second baseman ever while jogging as slowly as possible to first base while giving everyone the finger.
- NYPLATOONS
  
  Wave the flag they were doomed before they entered the season.
  
  Ask the guy who predicted 85 win and no ps. Ohh wait that was me.
  - Pat D
    
    You know what you win for that?
    
    NOT A FUCKING THING.
    - Mikhel
      
      He actually won bragging rights over everyone else who looked at the Yanks with rose tinted glasses.
      
      A realistic approach in baseball is always better than to approach it with high expectations and best-case scenarios.
      
      Look at how Cashman approached this season with all the injuries and all the patches he acquired thinking in the best case scenario (Rodríguez, Jeter, Teixeira come back early and healthy) instead of acquiring players for the worst-case scenario because if the shit hits the fan at least you’re prepared… otherwise you’d end up aligning old, overpaid, DFA’d, former stars.
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        Funny, since my mantra since spring trainjng was “it’s going to be fight all the way for this team, and they may not make it.” Should I change my screen name to reflect that I was right as well?
      - Pat D
        
        Let me just say that I don’t find anything wrong with his prediction. Probably two months or so ago I threw my arms up and said, “If this team wins 85 games, it will be a miracle and I’ll be moderately satisfied.”
        
        My problem is that this is at least the third time I’ve seen him make mention of his “prediction,” and I’ve probably missed a few other times, since the season ended.
        
        Does anybody really fucking care if his prediction came true, other than him? He won bragging rights? So the fuck what.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    Wow, you’re like HERO OF THE MESSAGE BOARD. Your medal is being engraved right now.
- radnom
  
  Why don’t you actually defend your position instead of just meme-izing the other way of thinking. You’re just tearing down a strawman. There was a very rational argument to be made in July for listening to offers on Cano, which is totally irrelevant to the nonsense in that first paragraph.
  
  The comment I’m replying to is just as vapid and devoid of facts as any troll comment its tryin to make fun of.
  - Steve
    
    Because he’s a fucking moron. If anybody disagrees with him they’re obviously trolls that can’t spell. The only people who know anything are him and his crew of guys that are on his nuts 24/7. Them and that guy that used to comment here like 5 years ago that they never moved on from.
    - Psycho Trish
      
      NAILED IT. AND THAT BALL IS GONE!!!
    - Robinson Tilapia
      
      I love you too, Steve.
      
      Someday you’ll say something on here that’s not complaining about something I’ve said.
      - Pat D
        
        No he won’t.
      - Steve
        
        Was my post TEH OAKTAG? HA! Meme’d! Nailed it! High five me, Pat D
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        The couple of fucking times you’ve actually said something Yankee-related, I’ve tended to agree with you.
        
        This is why it’s so fucking sad that you choose for your online persona to be someone who basically pesters me because you decided the others don’t want you to be their online friend.
        
        Pat D
        
        Eww. Get away from me, heathen.
  - Psycho Trish
    
    Dude this is Fishy you’re talking about. He can’t do any of what you just asked of him. Nice try though…
    - Pat D
      
      Says the person with “psycho” in their handle name. Which, from everything I’ve heard about you on LoHud and seen you post here, is not used ironically.
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        This isn’t that person, Pat. This is probably the same person I ignore under screen name #76.
        
        The actual Tricia would be a blast to have here.
        
        Pat D
        
        Well, fuck me. I apologize to that other person then.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    There wasn’t a rational reason to trade him in July, when the team was in contention for a playoff spot. This gets discussed here every day. If you want my actual thoughts, read the archives. I’ve only repeated them a thousand times.
    
    Of course what I said above is pretty vapid. Did that sound like an attempt at actual commentary? Look away if you don’t like it. Bitching about someone bitching about something doesn’t cancel anything out.
- Gonzo
  
  FWIW, I doubt the Rangers would have dealt Profar for Cano. I wouldn’t have traded him either.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Agreed.
  - Mikhel
    
    Well, they traded Olt+3 other players for Matt frigging Garza, you know? The guy with a losing record, a 4 FIP and 1.3 WHIP lifetime before 2013.
  - I’m a looser baby so why don’t you kill me?
    
    Which is exactly why we should’ve at least listened to offers. Even though we were nominally in contention around the trading deadline, Texas may still have overpaid to the point where it would’ve been smarter to trade Cano instead of getting Soriano.
    
    Hindsight is what it is, but Texas ended up close enough in the end that it’s pretty easy to argue that picking up Cano would’ve put them over the top. If they thought that too, maybe we could’ve really scored here.
    - Robinson Tilapia
      
      It’s possible they listened to offers we don’t know about but that, also, Texas would not have been considered because of the strong chance they’d be competing against them for a playoff spot.
      
      Too many moving parts here.
- Shittyshittybangbang
  
  Dude……, you are losing it ! You’re holding on by a thin thread, riding dangerously close to the third rail, while howling at the moon ! Passive aggressive, schizophrenic ball of repressed anger. Let it out, let it out – you’ll be fine ! (Don’t let it out on me :-) )
  - Shittyshittybangbang
    
    Sorry, the comment was meant for r-tils. aka Man of La Mancha.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    I’m losing it? Bitch, please. You’ve got zero clue.
  - Pat D
    
    First of all, this comment was a direct reply to Tilapia’s comment, so you didn’t have to explain yourself. Thanks for the clarification, though, as I clearly couldn’t figure that out on my own.
    
    Second, you have no idea what you’re trying to say, so go mix a few dozen more metaphors and see if it makes sense to someone other than you.
    - Rick
      
      Are you and Tilapia the same person or do you just defend him because you get enjoyment out of it? Based on the times you each post, I’d venture to say you’re the same person. Scary.
      - Pat D
        
        This is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.
        
        You don’t think Mike wouldn’t publicly call out a person who posts under one handle and then defends the posts of that person under a different handle?
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        Trust me, I’ve seen pictures of Pat D. I am not Pat D.
        
        That Havok is a pretty good-looking dude, though.
        
        Pat D
        
        Yea, I have a feeling that it takes two Tilapia’s to make one Pat D.
Gonzo

I remember hearing that the Rangers were trying to trade for Stanton without(!) giving up Profar before the season. Who knows how much of that is true, but if any of it is true, it’s hard to believe Cano would have snagged Profar in a deal.

Could be the Rangers were trying to use an Olt package to land Cano. Hard to say.
Darren

You don’t trade a star like that unless you KNOW you can’t sign him.

Sign Cano and you have the best second baseman in BASEBALL for the next 5 years.
- I’m a looser baby so why don’t you kill me?
  
  I think it’s years 6 and on that we’re particularly concerned about.
Shittyshittybangbang

Reading between the lines, sounds like Axisa was pro-trade (obviously dependent on return). I guess an argument could’ve been made to trade / or not to trade, but to make an adamant statement against makes no sense i.m.o.
Pat D

I’m glad to see that no one on this site wants to do anything but attack each other. We can’t try being civil for a couple of days?

Jesus Christ, we’re all pretty fucking pathetic.

Now I really can’t wait for the offseason to start. This place will be like a cesspool in a rat-infested basement of a condemned building in a forgotten part of town that’s about to be bulldozed so that a parking lot can be built for the affluent.

See, I can mix stupid metaphors together, too. Doesn’t make anyone special or clever, because, trust me, I hate myself for writing it.

But, yea, seriously, to all of the assholes: go fuck yourselves.
Shittyshittybangbang

Wasn’t that serious, either way, God Bless You.
emac2

There is no question he should have been traded after turning down whatever offer they were willing to make. Market value for him was everything we need to rebuild quickly.

Now we’re going to end up floundering an extra year or two because we don’t have ownership and management on the same page. That’s a pretty crazy price. I agree we ended up so close to the playoffs keeping him was worth the chance but I would counter that if they were going to actually try they should have added a piece before Wells and Ichiro were completely run into the ground. Basically the only real extra effort to win was not trading Cano. (Soriano was too little too late fan pacification) and the cost was a bunch of ready prospects in exchange for Cano, Hughes and Joba.

Poorly played sirs.
Shittyshittybangbang

Good point. By not entertaining offers, NY declared to be all in for a push towards the play-off’s. Then to not add pieces “before” the trade dead-line (regard-less of price) contradicted the Cano decision. If they had made the play-off’s (wildcard, or 1 game to determine wildcard), no one realistically expected this team to go far, and the acquisition of Soriano was later – which would’ve excluded his participation in play-off’s. it’s all hind-sight at this point, but boy does it seem a poor choice not to pick-up 2 or 3 good to very good prospects. Especially if we don’t resign him.
- Deathstroke Heathcott
  
  Wait, I though soriano was playoff eligible?
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    He was eligible.
    
    He was also the best offensive player acquired before the deadline.
    
    The team was also in the WC hunt until about two weeks ago.
    
    We can’t judge in retrospect. They could have added more. They didn’t. Maybe adding more would have gotten them to the finish line. Maybe it wouldn’t have.
    
    What boggles my mind is that you can look at the end of July, and the fact that the team was within 2.5 games, or whatnot, of a playoff spot, and say “they should pack it in.” That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the franchise you’re claiming to be a fan of.
    
    That’s a general “you,” and not a specific one, obviously.
    - emac2
      
      “We can’t judge in retrospect” I would say that we can’t judge in the absence of all of the facts but if you can’t judge in retrospect when can you judge?
      
      The team didn’t make the playoffs, didn’t make an effort to improve the team in the long term, didn’t trade for help until it was too late (given that Soriano played better than anyone could hope and they still lost is proof) and didn’t make a professional effort to develop any kids at the major league level. It was a unlucky for sure but I think the bigger disappointment is that the front office either isn’t on the same page or using the wrong book.
tommy cassella

I don’t think cano will be going anywhere.
WhittakerWalt

I wonder how many of you “trade Robby for prospects” people would have traded Mattingly back when he was great and the Yankees weren’t. Think of all TEH PROSPECTS we could have gotten for him!
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Think of all the .500 pitchers we then could have gotten for those prospects!
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    That’s the way it’s done! That’s how you rebuild! Never mind the fact that prospects are a roll of the dice, at best. Hughes and Chamberlain were pretty much the best prospects in baseball at one time. Now we want them both in front of a firing squad. It’s almost like you can’t really count on prospects to ever become anything.
    
    Also FIRE CASHMAN
- emac2
  
  Do you think the decision to trade or not to trade is something that should be done in a vacuum?
  
  1. I wouldn’t have traded Mattingly in his prime. One of my biggest disappointments as a fan is that he missed all of our success.
  
  2. 1 would have traded him if the team was in decline and entering a rebuild and he was 30 and wanting a long term deal.
  
  Are you saying that you simply don’t trade Cano regardless of return or circumstances? Isn’t that more like a stalker than a fan? If you have no sense of value beyond an overriding emotion to do whatever it takes to be near someone it’s more of a crush than a business decision.